Rattus rattus

1 Black Rat at Wamboin, NSW

Rattus rattus at Wamboin, NSW - 21 Aug 2018
Rattus rattus at Wamboin, NSW - 21 Aug 2018
Rattus rattus at Wamboin, NSW - 21 Aug 2018
Rattus rattus at Wamboin, NSW - 21 Aug 2018
Request use of media

Identification history

Unidentified 30 Sep 2020 natureguy
Rattus rattus 6 May 2019 DonFletcher
Rattus rattus 11 Dec 2018 dhkmapr
Rattus rattus 22 Oct 2018 natureguy

Identify this sighting


Please Login or Register to identify this sighting.

User's notes

Wreaking havoc in the veggie patch for a while. We finally caught him in the chicken food bin, eating chicken grain.

4 comments

natureguy wrote:
   26 Apr 2019
This sighting has stayed unidentified for a while...
michaelb wrote:
   6 May 2019
Hi Don, one for you....
DonFletcher wrote:
   6 May 2019
Hi Michael and natureguy,
Black Rat Rattus rattus is hard to separate from the native Bush Rat Rattus fuscipes. In this case its a bit easier than many but the best identifier is the relative tail length. In Rattus rattus the tail reaches beyond the snout, so including the whole tail in the photo is a good idea.
dhkmapr wrote:
   6 May 2019
With a captive specimen, you can also use smell to narrow the field - R rattus consistently produces an unpleasant pungent aroma; R fuscipes often has a sweet smell.

Please Login or Register to comment.

Nearby sightings

Page 6 of 6 - image sightings only

1  2  3  4  5  6 

Location information

Sighting information

  • 1 Abundance
  • 21 Aug 2018 04:13 PM Recorded on
  • natureguy Recorded by

Species information

  • Rattus rattus Scientific name
  • Black Rat Common name
  • Not Sensitive
  • Exotic
  • Non-Invasive
  • Up to 1019.83m Recorded at altitude
  • 106 images trained Machine learning
  • External link More information
2,155,042 sightings of 19,961 species in 6,509 locations from 11,498 contributors
CCA 3.0 | privacy
We acknowledge the Traditional Owners of this land and acknowledge their continuing connection to their culture. We pay our respects to their Elders past and present.